Search

  - All Sections -Content Search Advanced Search

1. ATO reveals targets for FY2012 – the wealthy, contractors

The Australian Taxation Office has revealed its targets for the 2011-2012 financial year, with small business benchmarks, wealthy individuals, sham contracting, work-related expenses and employer obligations for SMEs in the tax man’s sights. Releasing its compliance program, the Tax Office says fields as diverse as real estate, hospitality, carpentry, medicine, football and aviation will be in focus for the year to June 30, 2012. Here are some of the key targets the ATO ha...

2. The ATO’s latest moves

This article first appeared October 22, 2009. Readers of my column will know I've regularly discussed the ATO's use of benchmarks. They give the ATO, and it must fairly be said, SMEs themselves, a window on the performance of a business - to help the ATO in checking on tax compliance, and to help a business compare its performance against industry averag...

3. Benchmarking and the taxman

Setting a standard from which to judge outcomes is not just instructive, it can be almost forensic in the taxman’s hands. By TERRY HAYES of Thomson Legal & RegulatoryBy Terry Hayes

4. ATO reveals key targets for new GST crackdown

The ATO says it will target businesses that have fallen behind in their business activity statements, property transactions and refund fraud as part of a $445 million, four-year crackdown on GST compliance. The ATO has been charged with recovering $3.2 billion in lost GST revenue over the next four years, after receiving $445 million in extra funding from the Government in the 2010 Federal Budget. The GST chase will kick off in earnest this year, according to a new guide released ...

5. Start counting

The one thing that will propel your business forward immediately is benchmarking your performance. You don't need elaborate balanced scorecards. You don't even need industry benchmarks or external measures of success. Just start counting stuff. It is much better if you measure what matters, but the very act of counting stuff will raise your conscious awareness of potential blind spots. It will give focus and energy, both conscious and unconscious, to the issues at hand. A funny t...

6. Fred Schebesta

There are several secrets to use to improve your online marketing. Here are a few...Advice on planning your online marketing for this financial yearNew year, new budget. Here are the secrets my best clients use to plan thei...

7. ATO’s data matching takes the (coffee) cake

The ATO has been conducting an increasing range of data-matching exercises in its efforts to combat the cash economy. I could say the latest exercise takes the cake, but it doesn't – it takes the coffee! In its latest drive, the ATO has announced data-matching programs targeting coffee sellers and also hardware store trade account holders. One gets the ...

8. The ATO’s latest moves

Readers of my column will know I've regularly discussed the ATO's use of benchmarks. They give the ATO, and it must fairly be said, SMEs themselves, a window on the performance of a business - to help the ATO in checking on tax compliance, and to help a business compare its performance against industry averages (eg. by providing a measure of various business costs in rel...

9. How to manage your tax risk

Every business owner should get their head around the very real benefits of tax risk management. By TERRY HAYESBy Terry HayesEvery business owner should get their head around the very real...

10. WorkChoices red tape builds... Midas drama twist... Export g

More red tape from WorkChoicesAs the detail on the changes to WorkChoices is revealed, the red tape is piling up. Employers will have to provide fact sheets on the new fairness test to each of the nine million workers in the federal system – or face a $110 fine per worker.Employers will have seven days to give new starters the fact sheet and three months to give it to existing employers after the new laws come into force.A Senate report on ...

11. ATO can withhold tax refunds and tell you by SMS

Tax refunds are, for many people, a sacrosanct part of the tax system. Many people just simply assume they will get a tax refund at the end of the year after they lodge their tax return. In fact, rightly or wrongly, many people and businesses rely on getting a tax or GST refund, so any delay in getting one can create p...

12. Taxman warns on compliance in tough times

Businesses under pressure may find the temptation to hold back on tax obligations irresistible. But, as TERRY HAYES warns, the taxman is known for his vigilance.By Terry Hayes Businesses unde...

13. The taxman’s bouquet: ATO benchmarks catch out a small bus

The Australian Tax Office has been using small business benchmarks for a number of years. This approach has not been without controversy, with claims that benchmarks unfairly produce a one-size-fits-all approach and don't take into account unique circumstances of a business, resulting in added tax compliance costs to businesses. Ac...

14. Tax boss signals crackdown on cash-in-hand business operator

Business owners that seek to avoid tax by taking illegal cash-in-hand payments are set to become a renewed target of scrutiny from the taxman, Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo says.D’Ascenzo fired a shot across the bows of business owners who participate in the black cash economy in a speech to the Council of Small Business of Australia national summit in Sydney today.“Cracking down on the cash economy will remain a priority for the ATO,” D’Ascenzo says...

15. ATO's cash economy crackdown nets $127 million

The Australian Taxation Office raised $127 million during the second half of 2009 thanks to its attack on the cash economy, commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo has revealed. After announcing the crackdown in June of last year, D'Ascenzo said the tax office has used data from credit cards, auction houses and even car purchases to compare with tax records. "Soon we will have the information that highlights the income and expenditure of the majority of business that could participat...

16. The price of executive compensation

Executive compensation is back on the agenda. It’s figured prominently this annual general meeting season with investor groups moving to embarrass companies that pay their chiefs too much.   Executive pay is also a vexed issue in the private company space, particularly among medium-sized busin...

17. Inspector-General of Taxation to review ATO cash-economy ben

The Australian Taxation Office's use of industry benchmarks to crack down on companies operating in the cash economy will be scrutinised by the Inspector-General of Taxation, after a flood of complaints from SMEs and their advisers. The ATO has increased the use of industry benchmarks in recent years to target companies it believes are dodging tax by under-reporting cash sales. The benchmarks are used by the ATO to determine the average proportion of cash sales a business should ...

18. Taxing the Tax Man – how the ATO use of industry benchmark

As part of its compliance armoury, the ATO uses industry benchmarks to detect cases where businesses may not be properly complying with their tax obligations. The kinds of benchmarks used include cash sales benchmarks, performance benchmarks (which provide key business ratios for different industries) and input benchmarks (which show an expected range of income for tradespeople based on the labour and materials they use).

19. The taxman’s secret tool

Data-matching is set to catch out those in the cash economy. TERRY HAYES explains how it will work.By Terry HayesData-matching is set to catch out those in the cash economy. TERRY HA...

20. SmartCompany Olympics – High jump: Set the bar with benchm

Part of the fear in starting a new business is that you’re never quite sure of where to begin. Although you may compare yourself to a few key businesses in your field, for the most part you don’t have insight into those operations and are pretty much flying blind. This is where benchmarking comes in. For today’s SmartCom...

21. Setting goals

We all know that setting goals and targets is essential in achieving our objectives, but when do our targets become a cap on our potential?   I was probably one of the few sales consultants in recruitment without fi...

22. Talk to us early: Tax commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo deliver

Australia's Commissioner of Taxation has implored struggling companies to talk to the Australian Taxation Office as early as possible and has promised the ATO will do what it can to get viable businesses "over the line". In a candid and wide-ranging session at the Council of Small Business of Australia's national summit yesterday, D'Ascenzo revealed the ATO has entered into payment arrangements with 250,000 firms and stressed companies will receive an empathetic hearing. "I ...